Blog

Welcome to my blog... a platform for all things fashion, creativity and female empowerment.

Here at Brimah + John I have two main beliefs "No-one can dictate you, to you" and "aspire for progress not perfection".

“This is a space where voices are heard and it turns out, I’m really good at listening”

— NBJ

Guest contributors are always welcome, so get friendly with that "contact us" tab on the left

In The Hot Seat With @Tabor_London

Here at Brimah and John, we have numerous inspirations! One of which are fabulous women, with a passion and a drive to do what they love and what makes them happy. These women are forging a path for themselves in their chosen fields and are an inspiration to us all. So what we like to do, is sit them down in the hot seat, shine a spot light on them... and get to know them a little better.

It's been 6 months since the last post Decemvber 31st to be precise...wowww! Who better to kick start things than Sister K of Tabor and her fabulousss handmade bags. Trust and believe I've got my eyes on a few of her products...

Tell us about Tabor the brand, the meaning of tabor and the concept behind it...

Tabor presents a timeless collection of handmade accessories sourced or made with the appreciation of the facile & fundamental concept of the 'Capsule Wardrobe'.

The pieces we present to you are bookmarks; they are the attention seekers. They require and emit more than the average and are beyond simple; a reason for the people watchers.

Our curiosity and zeal is immersed into every aspect of our campaign and every moment we offer to you is our own. The significance of our surroundings as inspiration, our experiences, quality and the appreciation of colour/texture/form is incorporated in and from the design process into our customer relationships.

Design over functionality. Tabor is devoted to bringing our own to the table.

We also accept the responsibility of our wider environment; build a foundation that is ethical and sustainable and the legacy will surpass you.

I could delve into the dictionary and tell you that a Tabor is a drum. I could connect this with the leather that we use and the beautiful warm cultures that we have around us. We could go into one about the ‘trance’ when workshop is in session. I could also connect this with the fact that we are anti-personification which is why we took a few steps out of the box despite the fact that we could have combined our names somehow.

But for us, there just is a surface level of satisfaction in the use of the brand name of Tabor. It is simple, it sounds good and it looks pretty.

What are your favourite pieces?

Our favourites will always be the patterns we are yet to cut.

We are motivated by our designs and enthralled by the way pencil evolves into physical form. Consider the fact that we started a year ago, what you see is just the warm up.

What is your background, what were you doing before Tabor? How would you describe your journey? Challenges and highlights?

Before TABOR, we were just consumers; oniochalasia and oniomania were all features of our daily routine. But rather than looking at these habits as detrimental to our physical, mental and financial health, as reflective, enthusiastic and productive creatures we channelled the propensity to spend into a project with future gains.

It would probably be most beneficial for me to first introduce my team in order for you to fully understand the journey, our challenges and highlights.

The biggest challenge for me as the fabricator is conjuring up the motivation to continue. Everyone has their own priorities/responsibilities so as much as Tabor is the forefront of my mind, I have previously had to consider our individual obligations at the expense of consistency and movement.

I have always been creative when it comes to putting things on paper; I can colour within the lines, sketch & write so this was the easiest part of the design process. But my drawing and writing had been suppressed for years for 'more important' adult stuff.

I started looking at materials, across the spectrum of bag design, branding, details and machines.

Obviously I hadn't sewn anything on a machine since my last year 9 textiles lesson. I went for a refresher with a lovely friend, bought a machine and made it a habit to try to sew every day, since June 2015.

I would draw designs that I thought were beyond my capabilities and the resources that I had available. I had to climb over insecurity fences. We have also been through a marriage and divorce (in the context of branding).

& now Tabor is here. We are currently working on a project with IKEA #LiveLagom which is completely beyond our expectations set a year ago. Before I was just a fiend, collecting the quarterly magazines.

We are also getting ready to take the giant leap for mankind into exploring the galaxy of batch production in working towards setting up shop on Venus.

What do you hope to achieve with Tabor? What advice would you give someone hoping to start their own business?

To achieve is to bring to a successful end, to accomplish an objective. Considering the potential breadth for expansion, we have no plans to achieve anything in particular rather to seize opportunities and take chances along the way.

It is far better to set rough milestones along the way of a wild journey of twists and turns. As mentioned earlier, our next milestone is simple, it is consistency whilst maintaining sophrosyne in output on a relatively larger scale.

The formal connotations/implications of business are enough to push me to jump. It is important to pick a hobby that you enjoy otherwise you will lose interest once it becomes a job. Maintain your hobby. Set yourself challenges. Show the world what you can do. Place financial gain at the back of your mind & the fruits of your efforts will surely follow.

We also make a habit to constantly visit our inspirations to reset our minds; Pinterest and Instagram are good but you must make a physical effort to stir your creative juices. Travel, read and listen to the things that evoke positivity.

Tell us a bit about the person behind Tabor? How would you describe yourself?

Don't you just love a good ole growth story? Hardwork, persistence and self-belief that's what I take away from Tabor. Gotta believe in yourself and trust in the process...y'all also see why I can't wait to get my hands on some Tabor goodies too right? Lush much?

Check Tabor out on instagram (@tabor_london) and look out for their upcoming website release x